Chapter 10

Hannah and Anthony floated above Bells, lost in each other's pleasure.

Slowly, Hannah kissed and nibbled on the tip of his cock. It still smelled and tasted of its recent visit inside her, and with eyes closed she reveled in the pure sensuality of the moment. That taste meant he had sent his seed up into her while she was her most fertile. She was smelling the possible creation of their child. The thought made her quiver ... his lips, gently sucking the folds of her pussy while his mustache rubbed around her magically, doubled, then redoubled that reaction. No longer content with just licking, she took all of him into her mouth. Anthony moaned into her sex.

She hadn't been like this, before. Been this ... free, sensual. Was it him, or was it...

Opening her eyes, she pulled back, just the head remaining in her mouth, and looked between his legs. There, beyond, was the blackness of space. There were no stars, or galaxies. Only streaks of color, coming, going. Exactly how they were traveling she wasn't sure, none of them were, but the universe was flowing past as they went where no human had ever been. And ... she wanted to bring new life into this. Life from him. The feeling was primal, instinctual. She wanted once again to feel life growing inside her.

She groaned again around his cock. She could feel her orgasm building. Somewhere she had heard that every release of pleasure helped egg and sperm complete their own mating dance. Hannah had no idea if it was true, but shuddering she relished in the thought. She began mentally chanting to the racing sperm inside her.

"Do it ... do it..."

Releasing him from her mouth, it quickly turned into a scream of pleasure, echoing throughout the universe.

The two rested, Anthony spooned against her back. He was back to half hardness, resting between her soft, ample ass cheeks. One arm around her waist, his other hand playing with a breast. Hannah half sighed, half hummed. She was happy. Looking up into space, she wanted to be here forever.

"This," he said lightly, kissing her neck, "has been one of the best dates I've ever been on."

She laughed. Her right hand went up to cover his hand on her left breast, guiding it in its movements.

"I'm surprised the sign worked."

They had taped a "do not disturb" sign on the door leading from the bridge to the dome. Grabbing one of the floating droids Daium had finally programmed to understand English commands, the two lovers had proceeded to enjoy an afternoon outing. Once they were ready to go in, they'd call R2 over and have him drag them back down to some handholds.

She was still in no hurry for that.

Hannah felt him shift. He was going to ask something, she thought. They now knew each other well enough that such knowledge was coming easier. Gently rocking her hips against his hardness, she waited.

"Hannah ... is it ... well, is it too soon for this to be something more than what we've been pretending it is?" His free hand captured her left, thumb rubbing her wedding ring.

She shuddered. Part of her still loved Mark. She would always love Mark. He had given her little Mary, after all. Her beautiful little Mary...

Anthony let go of her hand and hugged her against him.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..."

"No ... no ... you should. You ... I'm going to have your baby, sometime. I WANT your babies. And..."

"I love you."

He whispered it into her ear. Tears, unbidden, began to fill her eyes. She couldn't help it. It was stupid. She loved him. Why couldn't she just say it, just ... She felt herself being turned. His face came into view, lit by the faint light coming from the store under them. His eyes ... they confirmed everything his mouth and body had been telling her. He was hers, if she was his.

"We both know the truth," she whispered. "How I feel. Will ... will you wait, until I can say it?"

"Forever."

Pulling her against his body, his lips drew the answer her voice couldn't give.

Chuck looked down at the mass of shapes, and their corresponding holes in the alien machinery behind him.

"I sense great frustration in the near future.

The sound of flipping pages coming to his ears, with a chuckle he looked up at Rinda. The Orang was settled five feet away, three spiral notebooks scattered in the air around her. Expression showing great concentration, she attempted to translate his words. Smiling, Chuck decided to save her the trouble. Reaching over, he lightly touched her arm. The warm soft fur, as it always did, surprised him. The color made him think of an old stuffed animal, not a living, thinking creature. With a start, she looked up from her work, one page floating half flipped.

"It's not worth it, Rinda." She looked at him, puzzled.

"No?"

"No. Do not bother." Grabbing one of the books, he quickly flipped through to the passage he wanted, turning it back to her and pointing. "Joke."

A moment's pause, then she laughed. It was a throaty laugh, deeper than Daium's. Looking at him, she smiled.

"Thank ... you?"

"Yes! Got it!" He grinned back, her smile infectious.

Chuck was really starting to like the girl.

The idea, now that they had experience bridging the two cultures, was to let Rinda float from human to human, getting to know each one, and the ship, practicing her English. There'd be no translator following her around: Rinda had asked for this. She knew she wasn't going to have an easy time learning, and wanted the pressure of having to do it herself. That was what got her through the Academy, what she was used to. Nona had agreed quickly, relieved to no longer be just a translator. Freed, she began poking around the small medical lab, having always had thoughts of medical school. Melinda, Chuck's hints finally taking, was now spending some time cooking with Tammy. Thus, for the first time in ages, he was alone in Engineering.

Well, almost alone.

Rinda came over, looking over his shoulder as Chuck pulled a long slender box with prongs at the end out of the machine before him. The two considered it, looking occasionally at the schematic on the computer pad next to them.

"Any ideas?" Chuck glanced at her, amused. Smiling she shrugged.

"No."

"Me either."

The ship ran on two completely separate engines, both housed in the large sphere that made up rear of the ship. The first, which they were calling "impulse" drive, worked the way most humans assumed an engine worked. Not in a way they could yet understand, mind you, but the general idea at least made sense. With it, you could travel at a reasonable fraction of the speed of light, making travel within a solar system a matter of days, or just a couple weeks depending. As it was not being used at the moment, Chuck had run an automated diagnostic on it and was physically checking out the parts while he had the chance. The droids could, and probably mostly would, do what repairs and maintenance that were needed. Still, Chuck wasn't willing to put all his apples in that cart. Luckily, Daium had promised he couldn't actually hurt anything.

The other engine, the one now in use, was a different beast. He couldn't begin to understand what it was doing, and Daium's attempts to explain it were thwarted by the continued gaps in her vocabulary. What Chuck did know was how it affected the ship. The "warp drive" allowed them to travel amazing distances in rather short time spans. They, somehow, either phased to a slightly different plane of existence, or something similar, first accelerating for half the trip then decelerating for the second half. This had several interesting consequences. First, they were perfectly safe while traveling. No matter, or energy, could affect them once the trip started. They were seemingly isolated from the universe. Second, because of this there was no stopping or changing direction. Once a destination was set, that was it. Only once they arrived could they do anything.

Another interesting bit was that long distances were easier than short ones. While you COULD warp from one planet to another in a system almost instantly, the strain on your ship would be incredible. Chuck thought of it as jumping off a building to quickly gain speed, then hitting a cement floor to stop. Only warships, overbuilt to withstand "combat jumps", could even think of attempting it. Even trips of a lightyear or two could be tricky, making it often easier to travel to a point 5 light years away then back to the neighboring system than to jump directly. The fact that trip might only take you less than day made the delay more than reasonable.

Their current course, set by Daium, took them 480 light years from Tanah. They'd be there in another three weeks...

Chuck, making a note in his book, slid the power regulator back, where it settled into its socket next to a dozen almost identical units. The entire process, he thought, was reminding him of his old Electronics set. His parents had given it to him at around age ten, with the hope he'd get a big leg up when it came to computers. He'd loved the thing, basically just a board with lots of resisters and such attached. By plugging wires in to connect the various components, he had made doorbells, alarms, a radio, and other fun things. However ... he didn't learn squat. Chuck just treated it like a model or puzzle, following the instructions to get the thing to work with no actually understanding of the underlying concepts. The same was true here: after a week and a half, he was getting a good idea of what did what, but with no idea why.

For now, he had no problem with that.

Feeling a twinge, Chuck gave a tired groan and rotated his shoulders. He needed a break. Looking over at his companion, he shook his head.

"You're tiring me out, with your constant sitting there. Have any questions?"

Understanding at least the last three words of that, she seemed to consider it. The differences he was noticing between her and Daium were many, if also subtle. Rinda was slightly more ... immature. Not in a bad way, but her emotions were a bit more pure. Less tinged with shades of grey. Physically, while shorter she was more muscular. Definitely stronger than Melinda, and Chuck liked that. Even with the fur, you could see the curves of muscles, how they moved when she exerted herself. Her eyes, large and green, were ... well, beautiful.

Not that it meant anything.

Smiling, Rinda broke off her contemplation.

"No. No questions."

"How are you going to learn if you don't ask questions?" He shook his head. "Well, back to work. If you'd be so kind, pull that one out there..."

Tammy wished Melinda had come to spend time in the kitchen long ago.

Already, after just two days, she'd completely changed things. Yesterday, for example. Out of the blue, Melinda had asked if Tammy had taken a look in the bakery freezer and cooler. Actually, it wasn't out of the blue: the last of the pre-baked bread had been used up, the rest now in the main freezer to forestall the growth of mold. This was the first Tammy had heard of that department even having freezers and coolers. She was an office girl, after all! So, that morning they'd taken a trip over to the store to check it out. Oh, the fun stuff in there! Frozen pastry dough, muffin batter, cookies ... none of it secured down, naturally, so it all floated free. Where lids hadn't been on tight, the air filled with floating glop. In the cooler, the biggest surprise was the one pound bricks of moist yeast. Tammy had never heard of such a thing! They had expiration dates, which meant that if they were going to bake bread they'd have to figure out how to do it soon. They had grabbed one, as well as a fifty pound bag of flour and something called "bake crisp", and dragged them through the ship into the kitchen. All yesterday had been experiments in how to deal with flour.

It hadn't gone well.

In the end, after much cleaning up, Hannah had come by and suggested putting everything in a small sealed container to get the flour wet and sticky, then using the mixer. That worked. They ended up with enough dough for two pizzas, which after sitting overnight would be made for tonight's dinner.

Before then, however, Melinda had another insight.

"I wish we didn't have to lose all this," Tammy moaned, as they floated through what was left of the produce department. "It's such a waste!"